Strand Equity Declares 'Youth To The People' With Minority Investment

Los Angeles-based vegan skincare company Youth to the People (YTTP) announced today they received a minority investment from private equity firm Strand Equity, also based in Los Angeles, to further expand the brand and fuel growth. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Cofounded by cousins Greg Gonzalez and Joe Cloyes just under three years ago, the Superfoods-focused YTTP has enjoyed a meteoric rise. Appealing not only to the coveted millennial audience but across both sexes, YTTP is expected to triple in revenue in 2018, with plans to be in over 800 North American Sephora stores by the start of summer, according to the company.

The cousins come from a skincare background: growing up in the offices of their family’s professional skincare business, Eva’s Aesthetics, which was founded by their grandmother Eva Friederichs over 35 years ago. “We were always around skincare,” cofounder Greg Gonzales said. “If there was a day off from school we would be at my grandmother’s offices. I remember at 10-years-old being asked to be a model for a facial demonstration. Skincare is just in our blood.”

Nine months after inception, the brand received the call from Sephora. “Our story resonated with Sephora,” explained cofounder Joe Cloyes. “They also loved the product. They told us they could appreciate the quality and the effectiveness.”

The effectiveness comes from a marriage of science and superfoods, inspired by the juice bars lining every street in Los Angeles. “Once we learned about the power of superfoods like kale and spinach when applied topically, we knew we had something,” Cloyes said. “It took us two years to formulate with our chemist to get the products exactly how we wanted.”

Youth to the People

Youth to the People

By fall 2016, the brand was selling on Sephora.com and in Sephora brick and mortars in early 2017. So how does the young brand, which also retails at Nordstrom and Anthropologie, differentiate itself among the explosion of nature-focused indie skincare brands? Gonzalez credits the brand’s philosophy: “We know there are a lot of new indie brands harnessing natural. But our brand ethos is about the people. That kind of connects to our audience in a different way.”

Strand Equity recognized this connection when Seth Rodsky, cofounder and managing partner of Strand Equity approached the cousins at an industry breakfast. The consumer growth equity firm’s portfolio consists mostly of food and beverage companies like Vita Coco and Happy Family, but Rodsky recognized the opportunity with YTTP:

I think the biggest trend that we are seeing in food and beverage is ‘better for you’ clean ingredients – and clearly beauty is piggy-backing on this trend. When we connected with Youth to the People and really dug in we discovered they are a category creator. Leading with superfoods, skincare and simple packaging gives the brand distinction and makes it a breakthrough brand.

Seth Rodsky, Strand Equity

Strand Equity

The skincare brand intends to use the capital infusion to help them innovate, expand brand awareness and general growth. Cloyes explained: “As the line expands we experience growing pains like any other brand. Being carried in retailers like Sephora requires a lot of product – it’s hard to manage. We wanted a partner to help us grow and reach that next step.”

Rodsky said that Strand intends to be an active investor, including occupying a board seat: “We will be the consigliere. We will help with the team build-out, marketing, brand building, and corporate supply chain. We think the brand has permission to play horizontally in other categories. We want to build a great and durable brand; we are long-term players.”

When asked whether YTTP would be expanding into professional skincare, Gonzales commented that they did not have immediate plans, “If we did do it, it would have to provide professional-grade results.” Grandma Eva taught them well.